Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-12-28
THE PANAMA CANAL
WILL NOT BE OPENED AS A TIDE
WATER CHANNEL.

De Lesseps' New Plan, as Reported by
the Head of American Dredgers-wiI
Not Wait to Dig Through the Back
bone.
The plans of NJ de Lesseps regarding the
Panama canal have been changed, and the
big marine highway will be built with locks
instead of as a tide water canal, as was at
first intended, although the original plan of
making it a tide water route, NJ. de Lesseps
says, is to be carried out eventually.
Among the passengers who arrived on the
steamship La Gascogne from Havre the other
day was Commodore Henry B. Slaven, tho
president of the American Contracting and
Dredging company, a concern that has been
actively engaged in the work of digging the
canal since the start Mr.. Slaven had been
in Europe since July, partly for pleasure
but chiefly on business connected with the
canal. Quite recently he talked with a re
porter about De Lesseps and his enterprise
THE FUTURE PROSPECTS.
''As to the present condition of the work or
the Panama canal and the future prospects o.
the enterprise he said, 81 am willing to tel.
you what know from actual observation.
have had abundant opportunities for such OBJ
servations during the past six years, having
lived on the isthmus nearly half of that time.
have been backward and forward across the
route, and do not speak from observations
made from car windows. With this much by
way of introduction, can say that the canal
| is more than half done 1t is open at present
| for vessels drawing fifteen feet Of water for
| twenty kilometers, out of the total length OF
| seventy-four kilometers. That twenty is or
| the Atlantic end of the canal, and we dredged
| it ourselves We will have twenty-four done
| by July /, and a French company on the
Pacific end will have five more completed
Beyond our work there is a twenty kilometel
| section that a French company has con
traeted to do, but they have done very littl,
| on it If the French contractors do as they
| ought to do that section will give the share
holders no concern. There is left, however
section twenty-five kilometers long thai
contains the ridge or backbone of th'
isthmus. The elevations run from fifty Il
SS7 feet above the mean level of the twC
oceans. A good deal of work has been don,
on this section, but it is here, of course, tina
| lLt EItaltSt d4uUuilL Ol LIDS ~ "
done.
''After long consideration, and in view o
the fact that it is taking more time and cost
ing more money to complete the canal thai
at first estimated, NJ. de Lesseps has con
cluded that he ought to get vessels to cross
ing the isthmus at the very earliest date. T
do this he has altered his plans to the exten
that he will build temporary locks for thi
section and thus save great deal of time i
getting the canal opened. This is really tn
system adopted at Suez, for that canal wa
opened with only about fifteen feet of waite
in the shoalest places The locks will be ten
porary, and the work of digging the cans
down to tide level will go right on after tn
a route is open for vessels drawing fifteen fee
= Of water
b ''How many locks will there beF'
''lt is not fully determined, but suppos
four will suffice. NJ Eiifel, who is probabl
best known in this country as the builder {
the tower 1000 feet high in Paris for IL
next exposition, has the contract for Il
!, locks. He and De Lesseps will go to PanaT
r in January The locks will be made chief
2 Of iron, and will be water lifts